myrtle

Responses from myrtle

'In Home Dealers' are the future?
The era of the bricks and mortar dealer appears over. Many of the 'home' dealers, are people who have turned their hobby into a sideline or their business. Some are a lot less professional, and less committed than others. The model is cheaper, but... 
XLR interconnects?
From my experience the Antipodes Audio Katipos will stand out amongst that lot. As good as any silver cable I have ever heard without any hard silver sound. They aren't too well known in the USA as they are made in New Zealand, but the whole range... 
looking for interconnect under 200 dollars
That is a nice tuner Audioblazer, which is a good thing because the Katipos are pretty fast and transparent so could show up lesser gear. 
Add soundcard with digital out?
Fair enough! The Hagerman is a lot more affordable. Optical will be a lot less noisey than coax coming out of an internal card, for sure. 
looking for interconnect under 200 dollars
I bought one of their early cables, the WEKA, and then traded up a few times so have heard a few of their cables including the Gold, which I owned for a while. The sound of all of the Antipodes cables appears to me to be more natural and clearer t... 
Wadia or North Star Would like your thoughts
The Wadia 302 is the better machine in my opinion. I owned the North Star and really thought it a bit ordinary. Warmer than the Wadia but the Wadia is more musically engaging. The North Star has a refined sound that never really grabbed me musically. 
Which makes the bigger difference?
Agree with Krysgel, your question is about which change in electronics will get finer detail resolution, and isn't about changing speaker or room. Looking at your system as listed I think I would look at a CDP upgrade. 
Squeezebox Duet DAC vs Rotel
Yes, the Squeezebox is a decent transport but a poor DAC. 
Add soundcard with digital out?
In my experience the internal sound cards aren't nearly as good as using something like an outboard USB to SPDIF converter such as the Empirical Audio Off-ramp. There are a few such devices on the market but i am not sure how many handle 96k sampl... 
looking for interconnect under 200 dollars
The half price deal here on the Antipodes Katipo is worth a look. They are true high end cables in my opinion and to get them new at $190 with worldwide courier delivery is a real bargain. 
Why do we enjoy listening to music ?
It evokes or releases intense emotions that our structured and mannered lives don't always allow us to feel. Just why our brain decodes certain sounds as elation, despair, melancholy is something I don't know, and maybe that book explains it. 
A question about the logic of interconnect cables
Given that once a customer buys the equipment, he/she is likely to then try a range of cables to integrate the new component in the system, and since the ideal cable arrived at will likely be driven by overall system balance and the other equipmen... 
Gold interconnect comparison help
I just received a pre-production version of the Antipodes Reference from Mark to compare to my Antipodes Gold. More money, but more everything, particularly lower noise floor, more PRAT and dynamics. I remember the Jade Hybrid and the Antipodes Go... 
Are upgraded power cables really worth the money?
Yes - you will find that good power cables make a similar difference to introducing good speaker cables to your system for the first time. 
Balanced Cables
Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Even with truly balanced equipment like Sonic Frontiers I preferred single ended more often than not.